Last night, I kissed a girl.

The Original Plan was to go see a movie in the park, drink wine and eat cheese and crackers, while Jack Lemmon and Shirley MaClaine romped in "The Apartment". But then the city said, "No booze in the park" and then I said, "Hey Pretty Girl, if you don't call me back, I'm making other plans" and the solution that she offered was "bring wine or beer to my place and we will rent a movie."

And so we did.

I got to her neighborhood around 6pm, after a short jaunt on the northbound train. I walked to the nearby liquor store and picked up some supplies. The whole way there, we flirted via text messages.

"Also, I forgot to mention that I think that you are lovely." I told her.

She was adamant that we go into this as friends, and let things develop as they may and not assume that a relationship or sex is already on the offering table. And that's a fair thing to say. Who wants to walk into something, resigned to being a foregone conclusion? Isn't the discovery the best part? I prepared a very funny bit whereupon I would see her and offer my hand for the platonic shaking.

The door opened. She walked into the room. I offered my hand and a big smile and she batted it away and gave me a big hug. I didn't mind the sacrifice of the bit. The hug was pretty grand.

We made a quick trip to the video store. She looked for a movie for us. I spent the entire time we were there, getting used to her voice and her look, again. Five months since I saw her last. Her hair color wasn't the only change. She's stronger now. More confident. Less frantic. The changes are all very attractive. She picked "The Exorcist". A movie that I hadn't seen in ten or more years. She had never seen it. We are in for a good scare.

Back at the apartment, we forgot the movie and got down to the business of getting to know each other again. We drank slowly. She smoked. We told stories and little jokes. We teased each other in little, loving ways. Nothing made me happier than when she would reach across and kick me with her little feet. I acted as if I was much more hurt by the kicks than I really was. Flirting.

3 and a half hours went by and we talked about everything large and small. Upcoming movies. Old family stories. Funny sex stories. She threw her bottle cap at nearby roosting pidgeons. They fluttered away, perturbed. We both laughed at that.

The sun set and we stood at her deck balcony and looked out onto the cityscape. Only the radio antennae of the Sears Tower were visible. Planes slowly moved through the sky. The clouds turned deep blue and then orange and then red as the sun set.

We went inside.
We began the movie.

During the slow parts, we made little jokes and amused each other. I made no efforts to push myself on her. And like a cat, she appreciated the easiness and came over to curl up in my lap. I stoked her hair and watched the Devils movie.

Later, she switched positions and I held her ankles in my lap.

Later still, she moved again and my hand rested on her hip.

Even Later, she rolled back around fell asleep, leaning up against me. My big hand wrapped entirely around her skinny little forearm. There she stayed, napping lightly, until the movie was over and the credits ran completely through. I didn't crawl out from under her, until the movie was over and the screen was blank. I shut down all of the electronics and crawled back over to her.

I said her name once, but she was completely asleep. Her lip curled a few times, like she was about to bite whoever she was dreaming about. I stopped saying her name and contented myself by looking down lovingly at her and stroking her hair again. So soft. Her face was so young and fair. I was aware, as she slept of her youth. And my age. My face never looks that untroubled, when I sleep.

She slowly woke up, never opening her eyes. She was coherent enough to explain to me that I couldn't stay the night. I agreed. And that I shouldn't expect much from her, early on. I promised not to. And that nothing is certain and that she might flake out on me, at any time. I said that I understood. The whole time, she never opened her eyes, once. From the depths of wherever she was in Dreamland, she was still sending messages of caution and care.

I thanked her for a lovely evening and asked her to lock the door behind me, as there were "crazies, out there in the world!" I stood up, bent low and kissed her once on her forehead. I left, locking the door behind me.

A perfect evening with a pretty girl. And our one and only kiss, came late at night, just as I was leaving. She may not even remember it. With no promises of future evenings spent together and no promises of future kisses, that one will have to do. But this isn't a post about What Might Not Be. This is a post about What Was. And How Sweet It Was. And How Much It Meant To Me.

A day later, it still strikes me as the best way that we could've ended the evening.

Cheers,
Mr.B